Monday, December 31, 2012

We Are Legion

Over the weekend I saw We Are Legion, a documentary charting the evolution of Anonymous from a forum of pranksters on 4chan to an anarchic association of real-world activists. The film consists of archival video, commentary from observers of on-line culture, & interviews with members of Anonymous, all of whom look like they were the kids who got beat up in high school. The film links Anonymous to the Arab Spring, Occupy & Wikileaks, making the case that it is a potent political movement. One interviewee went to prison for a year for participating in an attack against Scientology's Web servers. We also see 20-year-old Mercedes Haefer, who was arrested by the FBI & faces a possible 15 year sentence for hacking. Ms. Haefer comes across as a passionate activist in the traditional sense. The film condenses a lot of hacker culture & history & suggests that DDoS attacks are the on-line equivalent of a sit-in. I left feeling that there is a lot more to say on this topic. I saw We Are Legion in the Roxie's funky annex, with an audience of about a dozen.